By Chris Oddo | Friday July 31, 2015

 

David Goffin outlasted a determined Joao Sousa in Gstaad to set up a semifinal encounter with Thomaz Bellucci.

Photo Source: Der Landbote

David Goffin came through a tense, difficult struggle with Portugal’s Joao Sousa at the Swiss Open Gstaad to reach his third ATP semifinal of 2015, 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(1).

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The victory sets up a semifinal clash between Goffin and two-time champion Thomaz Bellucci. The lower half semifinal will feature a battle between Dominic Thiem and Feliciano Lopez.

Goffin earned his 10th clay-court victory of 2015, but he was forced to battle all the way to the finish with the feisty Sousa. After the Belgian broke for a 4-2 lead in the final set, Sousa broke right back in the next game and went on to save two match points at 4-5 to send the match to a deciding tiebreak.

But Goffin proved up to the task as he dominated Sousa in the tiebreaker, taking a 5-1 lead at the changeover and never letting up en route to the victory.

A pair of former Gstaad champions locked horns earlier on Friday, as defending champion Pablo Andujar was knocked off by two-time champion Thomaz Bellucci, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Bellucci improved to 4-2 against Andujar and reached his third semifinal of 2015.

Thiem continued his winning ways with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta. The Austrian won his sixth consecutive match to improve to 25-18 on the season. He had another fantastic day from the service stripe, facing only two break points in 13 service games, and surrendering only a single break.

Feliciano Lopez, playing in his first event since getting married to Alba Carrillo two weeks ago in Toledo, Spain, defeated Santiago Giraldo in straight sets to reach his second semifinal of 2015. The Spaniard will have his work cut out for him against the red-hot Thiem, as he has lost both previous meetings to the Austrian.